WaPo Devolved Into Neocon ‘Propaganda Sheet’

Veteran journalist Robert Parry (Consortium News, 3/15/09) has a message for anyone left who, when they “hear the name Washington Post,” might “still think of… brave journalists facing down a corrupt president”–“today’s version of the newspaper would be a sad disappointment, a betrayal of a noble past”:

Over the last three decades, the Post has evolved into a neoconservative propaganda sheet, especially its opinion section which fronted for George W. Bush’s false Iraq-WMD claims, led the long-term bashing of Iraq War critics, and defends whatever actions the Israeli government takes, including the recent war in Gaza and apparently its desire to preemptively bomb Iran.

Rather than a newspaper committed to the truth and favoring a broad debate about important issues, the Washington Post has become an enforcement mechanism for a neocon-dominated establishment, setting the parameters for permissible points of view and twisting facts for that purpose.

A recent example of this enforcement role was its March 12 lead editorial trashing former U.S. Ambassador Charles “Chas” Freeman for issuing a two-page statement pointing out that his nomination to serve as a top intelligence analyst had been torpedoed by WashingtonÃƒÆ’Â¢ÃƒÂ¢”Å¡Â¬ÃƒÂ¢”Å¾Â¢s powerful Israel lobby.

Parry points out the Post editors’ ridiculous stance that “there apparently is no Israel lobby; there has been no large-scale organized effort to bend U.S. foreign policy to the interests of Israeli governments over the years.” In fact, Parry says that in the Post‘s view “even the suggestion that such a body exists is a sign of delusion, bigotry and a conspiratorial mindset.”